ABRAXAS: INBOX

[techmaturgy]

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[techmaturgy]

I don't want that to stand in the way of your making a connection with them, if it's meaningful to you.

[Viktor thinks that if he were the only one of his kind among the Summoned, he might jump at the chance to connect with others of this world, if only for curiosity's sake. He isn't sure if that's what Alucard is feeling out here, but it's an educated enough guess.]

None that I recall. I'm not well-versed in that sort of thing, as you might imagine.

[cryptsleeper]

Well, let me explain the second part, then we can revisit the connection element.

It's touch and go with everyone's varied backgrounds, but very well. Unsurprisingly given what we are discussing, blood is important among my father's kind, especially as the consumption of vampire blood is the mechanism for becoming one. It creates a bond not unlike a family tree, with vampires capable of tracing lineages through these links.

The bond that results depends. Some vampires turn their partners or significant others and it all goes to shit and becomes revenge fantasies made real. Others do so to friends, and that friendship endures. Sometimes it may be more like siblings.

Regardless, a vampire's blood is a permanent bond that cannot be erased or undone.

So anything I give to them will likely be transferred to you in due course, depending on how our experiments go. I cannot and will not make a decision without your input.

[techmaturgy]

Yes, that much seems obvious.

[Viktor knows that he's getting into something that's over his head. Part of him doesn't really care--that's the part willing to sacrifice a great deal, if it means staying alive. This is, however, the first time Alucard has elucidated a potential consequence in this amount of detail, so of course he has to take a moment to process.

Not that it really changes his mind, in the end.]

I can think of worse things than this. [A permanent, sibling-like bond with Alucard? He can definitely think of worse things than that.] Regardless, I'm not going to stop you from making a connection you feel is important. You might not have the opportunity again.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's still not sure Viktor quite gets the importance at play. Lineage means so much among his father's people, and he has no doubts that it is not the same in Nocwich, based on everything he had read so far. But then, Viktor has made it clear how very, very desperate he is in trying to ensure a longer life. Getting involved in weird supernatural politics being a price for that would seem reasonable.]

No, but it felt inappropriate and unfair not to bring it to your attention before I did so.

[Anything involving Alucard's blood means he's deciding for two people now. And that's slightly terrifying, if he thinks about it for a second too long.]

I still want to discuss it with Sypha but...thank you. [For the approval.] Regardless, if traveling there becomes an option, I do intend to pursue it. If possible, I'd like for you to come with me, if only because they seem to have some kind of blood assessment capabilities.

[techmaturgy]

[Alucard’s right—Viktor doesn’t understand the full scope of this, and likely won’t until it’s all said and done. He is, however, more than willing to live with the potential consequences. Viktor was dealt a bad hand from the start, and is fairly certain he can weather various drawbacks, if he really needs to.]

You don’t need to thank me. If it’s important to you, that’s enough.

[Anyway,]

I would be happy to accompany you, depending on the means of travel.

[cryptsleeper]

I've had some poor choices of friendships in the past. It is worth saying.

So...no horses?

[techmaturgy]

I did better in the back of a wagon, but even that was...taxing.

[cryptsleeper]

I can't turn into bats and carry you either. Weight distribution wouldn't work at all.

[techmaturgy]

I appreciate the sentiment regardless.

[cryptsleeper]

So IS there a better means for you to travel?

[techmaturgy]

That far, and in the absence of an airship? It's not necessarily the means of travel, but the extended time in the wilderness.

[cryptsleeper]

....Tell me more about the airships.

But understood. Boats are obviously not an option in most cases.

[techmaturgy]

More-or-less what it sounds like. Held aloft by a lighter-than-air gas, otherwise engine-powered.

A boat isn't a bad idea. My guess is that chartering one would be the difficult part.

[cryptsleeper]

--Those would improve trade and travel so much here. Have you made them in the past?

Yes, and it'd probably take far too much time. Months, maybe.

[techmaturgy]

No, I never had a hand in their design and construction, but I understand how they work.

I like boats, but not enough to spend months on one.

[cryptsleeper]

They sound re-creatable here then.

Neither do I. So airships or we hope for a portal, it seems.

[techmaturgy]

I'm certain I could advise the government in their construction. The question, then, is whether or not they would immediately militarize it.

[Viktor thinks they would!]

[cryptsleeper]

...they probably would. How disappointing.

[techmaturgy]

It's a difficult position for me to be in.

[cryptsleeper]

And hiding an airship is probably not plausible...

[techmaturgy]

Build a small one. Manufacture the parts in different places, then assemble it in the desert.

[cryptsleeper]

I could start looking in my area, if you'd like.

Ah. Right. I've built a crypt of sorts out in the desert. Roomier than the cactus and useful if the Singularity acts up again.

[techmaturgy]

As glad as I am that you're no longer sleeping in a cactus, I have to question the use of the word "crypt".

[cryptsleeper]

Oh, I'm still using the cactus for when I need to be in the city.

Sometimes you need to have an underground crypt to recover from wounds/heal/etc. I don't see the issue.

[techmaturgy]

No, I understand. It's just that the word has a different connotation, where I'm from.